Chapter 372: Chapter 338
Right, this guy pissed me off.
Admittedly, It would be a good chance to see what the standards of a Captain were. I vaguely felt like he was 'weaker' than Shunsui and even Unohana, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's less of a threat.
He reminded me oh too much of those unscrupulous bunch back at the Clock Tower. The kind that you would want to be on guard against regardless of how strong you got because there was not any depth they couldn't sink to for their own gains.
....we were far enough away from the Fourth Division so I wouldn't feel bad about causing a little damage.
Originally, I planned on not causing a commotion....more than I already had. But after seeing how Soul Society is kinda a huge shithole and this asshole, I'm left with nearly zero fucks right now.
He said his name was – Mayuri, something. His teeth chattered in clear happiness, it was easy to see he was in a good mood even if I insulted him. He probably didn't see me as a threat at all based on the amount of Reiatsu I had.
"Hmm, I should keep the specimen in good condition before I begin. I shouldn't let the prattling of an experiment get on my nerves. I'll have plenty of time to fix that mouth once I have you under my knife." He held his right hand up as if he was going to grasp at me from that distance away.
I jerked my head to the side, his hand flew past, extended unnaturally from where he was standing. It was fast, extremely so. to the point where I did have to pay attention, otherwise it could have caught me off guard. Slower than that movement technique, but still something I could label as 'Ultimate class' based on my birth world's standards purely on speed alone.
"Oh, you dodged, interesting." He grinned, as his arm retracted as fast as it extended. "But what about this?" His arm shot out again as I stepped to the side, however, I looked at it and little pores opened up along its length and a purple, hazy mist sprayed out.
"Poison?" I muttered. It seemed to be a recurring theme with him.
"Don't worry, it won't kill you. It's meant to capture my experiments without causing any lasting injury. However, an unfortunate side effect is the excruciating pain."
I held my hand up, retrieving my Staff of Magnus. I saw his eyes visibly light up with excitement. I slammed it on the ground, creating the required Runes as it was basically second nature at this point. "Fires of Muspelheim."
One of the first spells I created.
It was simple, and direct.
A massive wave of fire burst out from the epicenter, clearing away that poisonous fog with ease and swept towards the Shinigami.
An interesting side effect, the area around us started burning. An obvious consequence in normal situations, but this place was made of Reishi. It seems that the normal 'physics' seem to be mimicked here for some odd reason.
I also noted the amount of Magical Energy I had to pump into it for it to actualize properly and sustain. It was fighting against this realm in addition to its normal properties. I would have to be careful on my Magical Energy expenditure just in case. There were simpler methods to clear away the Poison, but I did want to verify a few things with something that required a little more oompfh.
"Marvelous, what are you? That was not the manipulation of Reiryoku. You are certainly no Quincy and that was not Kidō."
The Shinigami walked forward, swiping his hand and dispersing some of the flames around him. His clothes looked the slightest bit singed.
"Me? It seems like I'm someone about to beat up a clown."
He twitched slightly. "No matter, I'll have you!" His arm shot out again, but I wasn't going to simply dodge and play around anymore.
I withdrew my Staff and Mirage entered my hand. My Aura surged, and Reinforcement filled my body to the limit.
I slashed downwards at his extended Arm, but it retracted in the blink of an eye. I followed suit, a burst of speed erupting from me, shattering the ground beneath my steps as I moved quickly at him, my sword slicing upward from below.
His eyes widened as his hand quickly grabbed his Zanpakutō that was sheathed weirdly between his legs as opposed to his hip. He pulled it out enough that our blades clashed, but he was clearly in the losing position, his footing easily crumbled and he was sent skidding back.
He stumbled slightly before coming to a stop and a snarl appeared as he fully unsheathed his sword and disappeared with a burst of displaced air. It was nowhere near the level of that other Shinigami I played with. This was magnitudes faster than that poor excuse from before.
He almost escaped my perception and I had to genuinely focus to a good extent.
His sword came from behind. "Forcing me to use Shunpo." He said with a degree of frustration.
"Wuld." I announced to the world, the Divine Word swirled around me and I moved in a similar manner as him. The spot I was in a brief moment ago appeared empty and I instead was now behind him.
"What!?" He blurted out as I mimicked his action completely.
However, my movement was much more awkward in comparison. My sudden burst of speed was limited to a singular instance with each use of the Dragon Word, whereas his Movement technique seemed to be able to be used continuously with only a drain on stamina and possible Reiatsu.
He jerked his body around to block a slash from me, his awkward action sent any guard he created broken, and his blade knocked to the side.
I flicked my hand under my blade, three Talismans appeared and they shot off, like shooting stars towards him at close range. His upper body leaned back, and they only tore up his clothing slightly before he pivoted and disappeared in a burst of speed.
Lightning coated my arm and I slammed it downward. Spears of Lightning shot up from the ground where he appeared. He looked surprised at the sudden assault and I took that moment where he dodged to leap forward and slam my sword down at him again.
He moved to block after avoiding my Lightning, the ground beneath him shattering at the weight. He looked to be struggling slightly under the straight.
He stepped back in an attempt to escape, possibly activating his movement technique again, but I quickly summoned forth my other swords. They launched at splitting speeds through the air. The Shinigami was taken completely off guard and he was forced to abandon his plan, only narrowly avoiding fatal strikes as they slashed and pierce towards him.
I took that moment to grab onto his annoying arm that could extend. Grabbing it tight, I slashed downwards with Mirage, severing it completely from his body before he disappeared again a few dozen meters away.
"That's one." I turned to look at him standing on the nearby wall, tossing his severed arm to the ground. "I'm curious, that extension method. Be truthful, it wasn't originally created for your arm, was it?"
"Insect." He growled out before grabbing his sword with his mouth and reaching into his Kimono, pulling out a syringe with some strange liquid in it. He quickly stabbed it into his stub of an arm that was bleeding profusely. I was taken by surprise to see his arm visibly grow back. I could hear him barely hold back a muffled scream.
"Oh, that sounds like it hurts." I relaxed my stance a little.
Whatever he did was....interesting. To see limb regrowth like that was not something common if it came from an outside method.
"It does." He growled, tossing the syringe away. "However, it's as good as new."
"Wonderful! I can cut it off again then. How many more of those do you have? I wanna know how many times I can cut you up before your life is in danger."
"A mere experimental subject continues to mock me." He smiled ominously. "I believe I've lost my patience." He held his blade up and turned it sideways. "Rip – Ashisogi Jizō" He announced, and a feeling of weight washed through the surroundings, and even my soul shuddered from the proclamation.
His power exploded a few times over.
Instead of a more standard Katana, a golden baby-faced figure replaced the guard. And protruding from it were three sort of branch-like blades that reminded me of a trident.
There was also that faint haze that lingered around it. "Poison again." I furrowed my brow, feeling a faint sense of danger from it.
I had Avalon, so I wasn't too concerned, but there are always variables that I may not account for. Poison was one of those things that I never really focused on, so it could slip through if I wasn't careful.
"Hadō #54 Haien." He intoned, swiping his blade as a blast of purple energy fired off.
My Aura surged forward to meet it and I would have blocked it with my Sword if necessary. However, once it collided with my Aura, a good chunk of it completely disintegrated.
An innate concept of Destruction!?
No, it was much further down on the scale than that. Possibly something similar, but not on the level of my bloodline.
Still utterly fascinating.
He used that moment that I was examining the effects to move. His Shunpo got noticeably faster to the point where I couldn't stay reactive completely. I Took a step forward and swung out to meet a swing of his.
Heavy. Everything about him got an increase it seems like.
However...
"You know – " I Pushed his sword back a little. "Something tells me you aren't a fighter." I didn't feel that same 'battle instinct' that I could from most opponents on this level who tried to fight me.
Oh, he had the raw power, I could practically feel it off him. But it wasn't honed like a real fighter would have.
He snorted, twisting his blade. The mouth on the Golden guard of his opened up and spewed a concentrated poisonous mist.
I gathered my Aura and released it in a concentrated amount, dispersing it with a burst of power.
His eyes darted all over the place. "An interesting power, I'll have to examine it carefully."
Right.
"Hey, wanna see something cool?" I held up my middle finger infront of his face with our blades locked. "Hadō #1 Shō." I cast Kidō for the first time against an opponent, filling it with a good chunk of Reiatsu.
His head flung backwards, and he stepped back with another burst of Shunpo. He looked calm which was different than his arrogant demeanor form before, but there was a red mark on his forehead.
"A human knows Kidō?" He looked at me inquisitively. "Fascinating."
I flicked my wrist in his direction. "Twenty Birds.." The Sword Phantoms created from Magical Energy cascaded out.
They were harder to create in this environment, but they would suffice.
"Petty tricks." He clicked his tongue, swinging his sword out in a blur, clashing with each one of them. Taking a step forward, he moved faster than before, as if it wasn't his top speed.
Mirage was brought up to block a stab, that golden blade of his fighting against the flat of my blade as he tried to pierce me through the eye.
He scowled, dropped his posture a little, swiping his blade upward, a hazy mist following the trajectory, making me step back to avoid hit. His blade scratched the ground utterly corroding it with a singular movement.
"Huh, can your poison's properties be changed?" I looked at him because the earlier applications didn't really give me as much as a dangerous feeling as it did now.
"Hmph, of course it can. What kind of ridiculous Zanpakutō would only have a paralyzing poison?" He scoffed. "I've decided that you don't need every body part. Your physical characteristics are irrelevant."
His weapon continuously expelled that mist that enveloped the area. It began eating away at my Aura at an alarming speed.
I took a deep breath. "FUS RO DAH" I bellowed out, shifting the world along with it. The flames that still lingered were immediately extinguished from earlier.
The Haze around me dispersed instantaneously.
And in the path of my shout, the captain stood there in confusion as the invisible force rippled forward. He brought up his sword and braced himself, and his feet went skidding across the ground before he was utterly blown away at the force.
He rolled on the ground before coming to a stop. He quickly pushed himself up and pulled back, my Sword slashed downwards sundering the earth.
He tilted his body to the side and his arm thrust outward, his golden sword attempting to pierce at me.
I was wary of his blade at the moment, that poisonous miasma it spewed did tickle my instincts to not be hit.
Whisper came in from the side, slamming into it, altering its course.
I motioned with my hand, and Dawnbreaker came slashing from overhead.
The Shinigami was forced to dodge himself as a new gorge was opened up where he was previously standing.
Mirage slid between the prongs of his blade with him attempting to force me with just strength. I could see him gritting his teeth but I held my ground with increased strength. I gestured for my Sword of Destruction to follow up, flying from behind to stab him in the back.
He apparently had good instincts because he noticed. He glowed bright with Reiatsu that shimmered around him and he let out a low growl, and slashed forward. It was enough to bisect the wall that was behind me as I moved to the side.
I called upon my lightning, a thunderous boom emanating out with the crackling that soon followed and I extended my finger. "Lighting Arrows."
Three of them manifested shooting at him at high speeds. He swung his sword, destroying two of them, but one landed on his shoulder, making his growl and hiss in pain, however, it barely penetrated.
"You should pay more attention." I said, stabbing forward with a burst of speed.
He growled again, swinging his blade to block. He moved at insane speed, quick bursts of Shunpo that I made sure to watch intensely. They seemed like half steps to try and gain the advantage on me in close range.
It made me go on the back foot as I adjusted to his speed. This Technique was becoming more and more appealing to me by the second.
However, I didn't want to drag this on any more. With a thought, I ushered my other blades to descend upon him.
Whisper, shot forward, barely missing his neck. Dawnbreaker slashed downwards, making him spin his body to the side. My Sword of Destruction caught him off guard, slamming into his thigh, making him stumble before pulling away. And Ascalon sliced at his side in one swift motion.
"What are these!?" He blurted out, looking at my swords hovering nearby, clearly having had enough of them at this point.
"Have you never seen a sword before?"
He grit his teeth in clear anger.
Yeah, this guy doesn't have the instinct of a fighter. Not to say he's weak. He certainly had immense power, but his application of it was more systematic. He wasn't the kind to level a mountain with the swing of his sword, he was a scalpel that could break you apart with precision. And a scalpel in the right place can easily take down someone who casually punches mountains out of existence.
He held up his palm, pointing it right towards me. "Hadō #88, Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" He roared.
Holy shit!
A massive burst of Lightning exploded from his palm. It completely covered my vision and I mentally took back what I said about casually destroying mountains.
I jerked my hand downwards, My Staff appearing in my grasp once more. "Shield of Asgard!" I quickly cast, the golden shield enveloping me protectively.
I could actually feel my shield shudder under the blow, straining to sustain itself. As it passed over me.
It didn't last long, and I could see around me again after a brief moment. However, there were no longer any buildings in my immediate vicinity and the area behind me was utterly desolate and nothing but charred ground for quite a distance.
That was without the full chant.
I want it!
Dismissing my Staff once more, I reached out and grabbed Meridia's sword. "My Turn." I declared and his eyes widened, his breath a little heavy and he was obviously surprised at me withstanding his attack without harm. A massive amount of Magical Energy fluctuated around me.
He reacted quickly. "Bakudō #73, Tozanshō!" He casted in a paniced in his tone.
An inverse-like pyramid materialized around him.
I swung my sword down. "Dawnbreaker!" The Holy light roared to life and flowed out like a wave in his direction.
The Holy Light consumed everything in its path, annihilated anything that it came into contact with. It closed the distance instantaneously, colliding with the barrier that the Shinigami put up in haste.
It was funny, now as the light cleared away, both sides looked similar. Two desolate areas joined together after each launching our attacks.
However, the Shinigami was in much worse shape than I am.
His shield had crumbled under the strain.
Parts of it remained, but like glass, it was mostly shattered.
Blood pooled around him on the ground as he used his sword to hold himself up.
"Huh, I said I'd take your arm again, but I didn't mean like that." I mocked him again, holding up Mirage to my shoulder.
He was missing his right one again, along with other chunks of his body and a lot of his flesh seared at the holy light. His entire figure looked mostly disfigured from having to endure my attack. Even the tips of his....hat, thing were seared off.
Shame, I wanted to pull it off myself to see what It actually was.
"You....." His breathing was erratic. "I WILL EXAMINE THE PIECEs OF YOU THAT REMAIN!" He roared in indignation, holding his sword up high and his Reiatsu skyrocketed. Literally, in this case as a pillar of it released from him and reached to the clouds above. "BANKAI!" The word reverberated through the surroundings.
A whirlwind swept up the surroundings and I even had to brace myself at the distance I stood.
I could feel his presence intensify several more folds. His Reiatsu easily multipled another five folds from his released state.
A Bankai.
I had been wandering about this since I heard it and holy crap did it live up to my anticipation. If he fought me like this right from the start, I'd have to go much harder.
The Dust settled and the Reiatsu settled down as it enveloped him and condensed.
His sword was no longer in his hand, instead, there was now a creature coiled around him protectively.
That same golden baby face from his sword on a body that seemed a mix between a worm and a centipede, maybe closer to a caterpillar?
It was utterly disgusting.
And it was huge. Its foot tore into the ground with each movement, and it could easily swallow me whole in one bite.
"Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō." He breathed out, a seething look on his face.
Dangerous
That was dangerous, and I could feel a threat from it.
It reminded me of Níeh?ggr that appeared that time.
The massive golden baby head opened its mouth and a torrent of poison spewed forth.
I dodged out of the way, but a little bit of it landed on my Aura and utterly ate away at it in seconds. It made me realize that Poison like this was probably the nemesis of my Aura. Or rather, a continuous ability that grinds or eats away is something I can't use my Aura to consistently guard against.
"Ashisogi Jizo, Go!" The Shinigami commanded with a gleeful tone.
It shot off with a speed that betrayed its awkward body and size. I would say it was nearly on par with the speed that he showed himself when using his movement technique.
With every step it took, it continued to spew out that toxic miasma, making it difficult to actually engage it. The grounds even became contaminated as it seeped into the stones and dirt below.
....yeah, I don't wanna get hit directly by whatever the fuck that is.
[Brat, let me.]
You sure?
[I haven't had a fight in a while.]
Well, who am I to say no to that?
I jumped to the side, avoiding its maw and ran to the side, jumping up on the ruined debris nearby as it coiled around trying to come after me.
My Swords that still floated around shot at it, slamming into its body, but that seemed to not slow it down in the slightest. It out a roar of rage and its speed increased substantially, and I instinctively coated my legs in Lightning and shot away quickly.
"Yes, struggle, human. I'll enjoy these last few moments of yours." He cackled.
"Giant poisonous beast?" I shouted. "Well, I can do that too!" I summoned the Boosted Gear onto my hand, and took out the Staff that everyone helped me create. I slid to a stop and held it out in front of me, finding a good place that wasn't enveloped in that poison.
"BEX ZII ZOOR FRUL LO." Ddraig and I voiced together. The Dragon words pulse out and actualize our intent. I held the staff up to add the finishing touch. "Disgyniad yr Ymerawdwr!"
Let the Emperor descend indeed.
A massive spell circle appeared as I fed a substantial amount of Magical Energy to activate this. I had to pull on the Kaleidoscope to facilitate the casting, to grab Magical Energy from other places.
It was accompanied by a roar that shook the world. Ddraig's black claws slammed into the ground as it pulled itself out and brought himself into existence.
The Shinigami – his Bankai reeled back coming to a stop that made it slide on the ground before halting. It hesitated and looked wary at Ddraig's massive form coming into existence.
A miasma leaked from Ddraig's maw and he stared at the creature in a sort of standoff.
"Ddraig, go beat up this baby." I commanded.
He turned his head towards me. "Did you have to word it like that?"
In response the thing screeched in fury, charging at us. Ddraig roared in response, shooting right at it as they collided in a huge impact, sending shockwaves out in every direction.
The baby-thing spewed out its poison, in return, Ddraig took a big breath and matched it, its necrotic breath filling the space. The two noxious gasses intertwined and sort of dispersed outwards in a big cloud.
I looked at Mayuri over there who didn't seem to understand what was going on.
"Oi, Clown face." I grabbed his attention.
"You –"
I slammed into his stomach with the Boosted Gear, his body reeled back and salivia unconsciously spewed from his throat. His body went tumbling back but he quickly regained his footing.
"Ashisogi Jizo, give me a sword!" He roared.
I glanced at the baby thing as its head tilted up, and a massive amount of blades shot out, protruding from underneath. One of them was shot off, landing onto the ground in front of the Shinigami.
It then launched forward, slamming its big body into Ddraig, its blade tearing into him. Ddraig in response, bit down on its huge body as they continued to tug around.
I quickly brought up the staff I still was holding to block the Shinigami's attack, the force of it actually made me buckle a little under the power. He was significantly stronger than he was before releasing his Bankai.
His Reiatsu was magnified, the source of their power, so it made sense that his physical attributes were in response, also increased to match.
"Go." I commanded, my flying sword shot down at him.
He hissed, disappearing from the spot he was in as my swords impaled into the ground where he was a moment prior. I tossed my Staff back into my ring and jerked Mirage out of the ground, swinging it around to block a blow from the back.
Holding out my finger, I aimed it at him point blank. "Bakudō #1, Sai." I chanted. His arm holding his sword was forced behind his back for the briefest of moments.
It was the first spell in the school, it was...weak, all things considered. It was meant to restrain an enemies' arm behind their back – or in this case, singular arm. It didn't even fully pull it back before it broke under the strain of his impressive Reiatsu.
I swung Mirage at his left side, a casual horizontal swing that he was forced to block with his own blade. He was definitely at a disadvantage due to the wounds he suffered. But I did promise Shunsui I wouldn't kill anyone, I wouldn't go back on my word even if this guy disgusted me.
In my free hand, still clad in the Boosted Gear, I flipped it over, producing a very familiar object that was quickly becoming sentimental to me.
And I slapped him across the face with it.
It didn't do much, some blood spit out from his mouth, but it was more the absurdity of it that made him come to an abrupt stop.
"....did you just hit me with a brick?" He asked, incredulously.
I wanted to say something cheeky, taunt him some more, maybe cut off his other arm, but I felt several more presences approaching quickly.
"Ddraig!" I shouted. "Time to go."
"Do you think you can leave after humiliating me?!" He glowered, fury igniting in his gaze.
I looked him square in the eyes. "Yes."
Ddraig took a deep breath, Dragon Words leaving his throat and a Flame descended upon the creature before him, engulfing it in a magical flame.
I ran over to him, reaching forward to quickly grab him back into the Boosted Gear because I definitely didn't want to tangle with the several figures that were approaching and were only moments away.
I suppose I crossed the threshold that others were going to get involved.
Just Ddraig and the baby thing were upheavaling a good chunk of the surroundings.
Yeah....little bit of a mess.
Ddraig dislodged himself from the thing with that burst of fire and flew to me, his body broke down and his soul reentered the Boosted Gear. I could vaguely make out the silhouettes of others flying through the air and coming this way.
Well, time to skedaddle.
The Shinigami, surprisingly, didn't make a move.
I think he realized he wasn't my match at this point.
I returned everything to storage except Mirage and the Brick. I looked down at my brick and had one last idea.
I filled the Brick with Reinforcement.
Fly true, great brick.
My foot pushed into the ground and I reeled back my arm. Gathering all my strength, I threw it at him. He looked...surprised, but not perturbed, probably a sidestep would all be required to dodge. But...how could I leave it just at that?
"Fus!" I bellowed out, that invisible force slammed into the back of the brick, and it shot forward, closing the distance before he could even react.
I quickly sliced through the air with Mirage, creating a portal.
The last scene was of my brick shattering on his face with enough force that he got lifted up off the ground before I jumped through and slammed it shut behind me.
[***]
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